Summer for cellar door visits
When Neil and Julieanne Snare established Winstead Vineyard 35 years ago, they planted just 50 vines of Pinot Noir. It wasn't meant to be a vineyard, they said. Those 50 vines were really just an unorthodox form of landscaping – their way of tidying up a five-acre lot they had cleared to build their home.
But grapevines have a habit of transforming people's lives.
One minute they're only sticks in a patch of bare earth. The next thing you know they're all shoots and leaves and tiny bunches. What follows is a wine journey along a very steep learning curve.
For the Snares, those 50 young vines at Bagdad became a 3ha vineyard, ultimately ending Neil's successful teaching career and bringing forth more than 30 vintages of wonderful Winstead wines.
Delve deeply into the back stories of those growing grapes and making wine in Australia's most marginal wine-growing region and you soon find others with similarly inauspicious beginnings.
Summer is a perfect time of year for cellar door exploration - and explanation.
Travel north to Ulverstone – and grab a front row seat at Windows on Westella – and you'll hear a back story remarkably similar to the one being told by the Snares, some 250km further south.
The Broadby family established their licensed café – and Broad Acres Vineyard – almost a decade ago. The latter is one of a handful of small and exciting new wine ventures that have sprung up recently in the State's central north.
But it's not vines and wines that have driven this family's core business across generations. Their deep roots in the community were first established through farming their land for orchard fruit and vegetables. Next came the successful transition from onion growers to pickled onion producers.
Windows on Westella sprang to life as a shopfront for the Broadbys' renowned Tasmanian Pickled Onions business. Its production facility is located only metres away.
"We've been producing pickled onions grown in Tasmania since 1999," says Darren Broadby, pictured below with café manager Diane Thomas.
"Fresh onions are peeled and bottled right here in our factory. We actually planted the vineyard as a bit of landscaping project. Before we built our new production facility, this was just a greenfield site. There wasn't even a tree here."
"When we put up a large concrete building, it just looked awful. We added landscaping, but it still needed something else to surround it. We decided to try growing grapes. We planted our first vines here in 2016."
Subsequently named Broad Acres – a bit of word play using the family name – the vineyard's 1ha of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir behaved like model citizens from day one, says the relieved business owner. The vines produced their first small crop in 2019. The subsequent addition of Pinot Gris, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc now sees the property producing seven estate-grown wines each vintage.
The range includes traditional method sparkling wine as well as single variety dry table wines.
Winemaking takes place at the Arnold family's Ghost Rock Wines at Northdown, some 30km away.
"Working with a vineyard wasn't that easy at the outset when we didn't have any expertise or experience in growing vines," Broadby adds.
"But we took a good deal of encouragement from Spring Vale's success on the East Coast. We know Rodney Lyne really well. Long before he became serious about cool climate viticulture, he was a sheep farmer who also did a bit of cropping. That included growing onions under contract."
Like the Snares at Winstead – and indeed the Lynes at Spring Vale – the Ulverstone family's bold project hit the ground running.
The vineyard's 2019 Chardonnay and 2019 Pinot Noir both won medals at the 2020 Royal Hobart Wine Show. Indeed, every vintage of Pinot Noir has had show success, with the 2022 Pinot Noir winning gold at the prestigious Royal Sydney Wine Show in 2024.
The full complement of Broad Acres wines can be tasted and purchased at Windows on Westella. The café is renown for its specialty dishes featuring pickled onions. Designated drivers – or anyone with a sweet tooth – should find plenty to enjoy among the family's range of gourmet dessert waffles.
To ensure you gain the most from a vineyard visit anywhere over summer, be sure to download a copy of the latest edition of Tasmania's Wine Trails from the Wine Tasmania website. It provides basic details of the diverse range of wine styles and producers that can be found at the State's 100 or so cellar doors – whether they ply their trades from vineyard restaurants, quaint cottages, heritage stables, or converted backyard sheds.
Many producers charge for tastings but offer refunds when purchases are made.
Ring or email to check what's happening in the vineyard. Visiting during picking or busy management tasks can provide valuable learning experiences, but be especially aware of the potential dangers around machinery operation. Don't walk among vines without permission.
Memories of some cellar door visits can stay with you forever.
I clearly recall my first trip to Andlau in central Alsace.
My travel partner and I were greeted at a vineyard tasting room by an elderly lady we soon discovered was holding the fort while her proprietor daughter collected children from a school close by.
"Domaine Remy Gresser?" my companion read aloud from a bottle on the table.
"Do you live on the vineyard with your husband?" she added.
"Non, non," came the reply.
"Il est mort."
As I began my first tasting note, the interrogation continued.
"Il mort? Do you have a vineyard there?
"Non, il est mort."
"Ah, il est mort? Where is that? Did we just drive past it?"
"Shh… leave it," I whispered, catching on to the conversation.
"Her husband's dead."
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry," came my companion's apology.
"Lovely wines…"
Last page update: 26 May 2026